As promised, Microsoft launches Windows Azure in Japan East and Japan West

In an official blog post today, Microsoft has announced the general availability of Windows Azure in Japan East (Saitama Prefecture) and Japan West (Osaka Prefecture). Just recently, Microsoft rolled out a massive update to Windows Azure, adding a plethora of new features to the cloud platform.

Windows Azure, for those that did not know, is Microsoft's cloud platform that enables you to quickly build, deploy and manage applications across a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters. You can build your applications using any language, tool or framework and integrate them with your existing IT environment.

According to Microsoft, Japan’s cloud market has grown immensely over the past few years, as the 2014 market is projected to be at roughly $1.6 billion. "These new regions will help fulfill the current and future needs of our cloud customers with secure and highly available services that help them grow their business. In addition, they provide local customers the ability to achieve data residency and realize data recovery scenarios, as data will be replicated between the two regions," Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

Microsoft will continue to push cloud adoption forward across the world, as demand for Windows Azure increases over time. In fact, Microsoft has been doubling Windows Azure capacity every six to nine months. In Japan alone, Windows Azure has grown ten times in the last 15 months.

Windows Azure in Japan East (Saitama Prefecture) and Japan West (Osaka Prefecture) will become generally available later today.